The guarantee fund for travel agencies, promised in November by the government, will be launched on January 1, a decree published in the Official Journal said on Friday. It is a “
public reinsurance
”
service
, ie insurance for insurance companies guaranteed by the State. It is the guarantee organizations of travel agencies that will be covered: the latter have had to reimburse many stays because of the pandemic and are not immune to new health restrictions in the midst of the fifth wave of Covid-19. The objective is thus to "
secure and stabilize the financial guarantee market for travel and holiday operators
", the government indicated in November.
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The guarantee fund for travel and holiday operators will be managed by the Caisse centrale de réassurance, the insurer's insurer, and will be able to reimburse up to 1.5 billion euros in losses.
The State will participate in the financing of this fund through endowments and advances from the Public Treasury.
Agency involvement
But as with any insurance, policyholders will also have to contribute: the guarantee organizations of travel companies will have to pay 75% of the premiums and contributions they receive into the common fund.
Part of this participation (35%) will be returned to them for their management fees.
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Agreements between the guarantee fund and organizations may be concluded for a period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023 at the most.
A fund management board has also been created: it will be chaired by the CEO of the Caisse centrale de réassurance and will include three representatives of the State.
In particular, he will be responsible for verifying that the guarantors comply with the conventions and for validating the fund's accounting situation.